The state auditor is not feeling the love from the Legislature or the Healey administration these days.
According to Auditor Diana DiZoglio, while there are many ways to demonstrate affection, the “love language” on Beacon Hill is money and her budget is facing some fairly telling funding shortfalls.
“I’m going to compare this, on the heels of Valentine’s Day, to a romantic relationship. In a romantic relationship, okay, we have what’s known as love languages. Some people’s love languages are, you know, receiving gifts, some it’s quality time, some it’s words of affirmation, or physical touch,” she told WCVB on Sunday.
“Well, on Beacon Hill, the budget is a love language. And I will say that we saw a lot less love than we were hoping to see from the administration during their budget process,” she said.
The cold shoulder comes in the form of Gov. Maura Healey’s 2025 budget proposal, which does not fund her office at the same levels as other “similarly situated” constitutional offices, DiZoglio said.
DiZoglio had apparently hoped to see an increase in spending for her office going into next year, in order to hire dozens of new auditors tasked with answering special audit requests — many of which are filed by elected officials — and to work toward completing oversight of the over 200 state agencies she’s required to monitor.
Healey’s $56.1 billion fiscal 2025 spending proposal actually does include an increase in the state auditor’s budget, but DiZoglio has balked at the figure.
According to the Auditor’s staff, while the Attorney General’s and Inspector General’s offices both get an extra 9% or more over fiscal 2024, and the Secretary of State’s office gets a 10% bump, DiZoglio’s team will have just 2.1% more to do their constitutionally mandated jobs.
While that may not be enough to please the former state senator from Methuen, it’s not terribly out of step with Healey’s overall fiscal 2025 spending plan, which comes in at just 2.9% over the prior year and at a “growth rate (that) is below the current rate of inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index.”
According to Healey’s office, the small increase between budget years is due to revenue, which has come in under benchmark through much of fiscal 2024.
“In light of flat tax revenues, the (budget) recommendation utilizes a thoughtful combination of funding sources to ensure a responsibly balanced budget,” Healey’s staff said along with the release of the budget.
From the auditor’s telling of it, however, there could be more going on than just economic belt tightening.
“It’s interesting that that’s happening at a time when we are getting ready to release the results of this administration and finance review that we’ve been conducting. You know, I hope that the governor, the administration, and legislative leaders come to understand the great value that our offices provide in saving money for the taxpayers. When you invest in the Auditor’s Office, you are investing in helping us combat waste, fraud, and abuse,” she said.
The budget now sits with the lower chamber of the state Legislature, which DiZoglio has been trying to audit since assuming office and after a campaign centered around her plan to do so.
Leading lawmakers in the House and Senate have maintained that the State Auditor is not empowered by the Massachusetts constitution to investigate their dealings, which are already audited by an independent agency.
In light of the Legislature’s refusal to comply with her efforts, the state auditor is pushing for a change to the laws via the ballot. The question of whether the Legislature must sit for an audit could appear before voters this November.
